Tip of the Tongue [BoyxBoy - Complete - CMS Bk. 1]

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Ren was running.

He was flying through the cold forest, the air whipping across his face, cutting his skin, and leaving his eyes dry. He stared ahead, eyes wide open even though they were screaming with pain. The pain soothed the deep disgust inside his stomach that was turning over and over. The pain felt good. It was an answer he'd been praying for and it had finally come.

His lungs couldn't hold anymore air. He was gasping, but the breaths wouldn't hold. They disappeared like the days, months, and years had. He didn't know how he'd ended up here.

Well, he knew how he ended up in the forest. What he didn't know was how everything had come to this.

The years of adolescence were long gone. He was a grown man, but he didn't feel like one. He felt like a boy.

There were no tears this time. He glided through the forest, dodging fallen trees, and chasing after a dream that never existed in the first place. Everything had been a lie. The things he'd yearned for were always mist floating in the sky.

How many nights had the forest called for him? He knew it was too many. And then when he'd answered, when he'd followed the calling to the mountain, things had gone even further down hill.

His lungs burned and there was a deep ache in his side.

That's when he stopped. He couldn't go any further.

He was somewhere in the middle of the forest. Not close to his house, not the city, and not the Mantels'. He was nowhere.

He stood there. The sun was high in the sun, beating down on him. Sweat beaded on his face and soaked the back of his shirt. His chest heaved while the birds tweeted at him.

Sunbeams set the forest on fire. The trees were still intimidating, but they were no longer transformed by the dark shadows. Ren reached out to the one closest to him. The moment his hand touched the hard bark he was grounded. The tears that wet his eyes dried and the quaking in his stomach settled.

He forced himself to breathe evenly.

This was it. This was where he was going to die.

He fell to his knees.

He didn't care anymore. His mom was going to be fine. She could make it on her own without him. He was just a burden.

All of this had been for her anyway. If he didn't have her, he would have let himself be murdered by the killer in the forest or he would have let the Hunters shoot him.

The soil soaked his pants. The coldness hit his knees. His eyes crossed as he stared ahead.

The buzzing slowly started at the center of his chest. It materialized out of nothing and he briefly wondered where it had come from. That was one other thing he hadn't found the answer to. The thing within him seemed to come out of nowhere, but he was starting to think it had been him all along.

He laid down on the ground. He shook though it wasn't cold. He curled up, sheltering himself from the outside world with his arms.

***

"Well, isn't this interesting."

Ren was jolted awake by a sharp kick to his back. His hands clawed the ground, raking back leaves and dirt. His mouth opened in a silent scream.

He rolled onto his back and stared into the eyes of none other than Regan.

Regan sneered down at him. He was wearing an awful grey sweater and acid washed jeans. He was alone which was a surprise. Usually when he was trying to pick a fight with Ren he had others there to back him up.